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Plain English Guide to Regulations
Wastewater Discharges

Prominent Electroplating or Metal Finishing Wastewater
Issues

Zero discharge
systems (also called closed-loop plating) use a combination of rinsing
modifications, drag-out recovery, and wastewater treatment that allows a meta finishing or electroplating
shop to reuse nearly 100 percent of all the water in a plating process line. In
these systems, all wastewater is reclaimed and internally reused, so there is
into discharge of wastewater.

Are there really zero discharges?

No. the “zero”
refers only to the fact that no water is discharged. Often, there are air
emissions (mostly water vapor) and solid wastes (spent filters, ion exchange
resins. cathodes, etc). Metals in the solid wastes may be reclaimed.

Can metal finishers with zero discharge
systems retire their Control Authority or NPDES permits?

Although, technically,
you may have no discharge, you run a “regulatory risk” if you don’t have a
wastewater discharge permit or agreement. Here’s why:

As a metal finishing shop, you
are treating plating wastes and wastewaters that are considered to be listed
and characteristic hazardous wastes. As a discharger with an NPDES permit or a
Control Authority permit under the Clean Water Act, however, you are exempt
from many of the hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facility
requirements under the Resource Conservation and Recovers’ Act (RCRA), notably
the requirement to obtain a RCRA Part B permit. Simply put the EPA and your
state environmental agency let you avoid parts of the RCRA program as long as
you maintain some connection to a permitting authority or a Control Authority
authorized under the Clean Water Act. It’s a matter of jurisdictional control.
If you throw out your discharge permit, there’s no guarantee a RCRA inspector
won’t come knocking on your door!

What can be done?

If you are
considering installing a zero discharge system, discuss this with your Control
Authority or permitting authority. Some Control Authorities and permitting
authorities are issuing what they call “zero discharge permits.” Essentially,
these recognize the fact that, with your current zero discharge configuration,
you have no effluent discharges to either a POTW or to receiving waters;
however, for oversight purposes only, the permit extends the CWA’s RCRA
exemption to your facility.

Zero discharge
permits may have reduced fees and few reporting or recordkeeping requirements.
But they may require that your system be certified by a registered professional
engineer, and this can cost several thousand dollars.

Is Your Facility a New
Source?

Many electroplating job shops were originally regulated under the 40 CFR 413
electroplating regulations. Some of
these facilities have unknowingly come under the more stringent 40 CFR 433
metal finishing regulations by subsequently meeting the definition of “new
source.” For example, if you installed
secondary containment after August 31, 1982 and it involved moving your tanks,
you may be a new source and subject to the more stringent metal finishing
standards.

A process constructed at an existing source job shop after
August 31, 1982 is a new source if:

it
entirely replaces a process which caused a discharge from an existing
source, or

it is
substantially independent of the existing sources on-site.

This means new source standards apply to the original
installation of the metal finishing lines, rebuilt or moved lines, or existing
lines converted to do new operations. This also means that the new source
standards generally do not apply to the piecemeal replacement of tanks for
maintenance in otherwise intact metal finishing lines, nor do they apply to
treatment upgrades without altering production.The rule states that the new source standards apply when “an
existing source undertakes major construction that legitimately provides it
with the opportunity to install the best and most efficient production process
and wastewater treatment technologies” (Fed Register, Vol. 53, No.200, October
17, 1988, p.40601).

Facilities that qualified to be regulated under the 413
electroplating standards, can add non-electroplating (see electroplating unit
operations) metal finishing processes, such as heat treating without becoming
a new source.Also, since no part of
the facility qualifies under the metal finishing rule as a new source, the heat
treat operation also does not qualify even if it was installed after it 1982.
Therefore the heat treatment wastewater would not be regulated under federal
regulations.

To help understand the new source definitions, take a look
at these real life situations:

Secondary containment addition/new
metal finishing process.Operations at this job shop began in 1978.In 1985, a spill release resulted in
the removal of the entire shop, the installation of secondary containment
and the reinstallation and replumbing of the metal finishing
operations.In June 2005, the
facility was inspected by the local sewer authority and subsequently by
EPA Region 9.One of the
conclusions from the inspections was that the facility was a new source due to the rebuilding
of the plating lines in 1985 after installment of secondary
containment.As such, the facility
should have been meeting the 433 metal finishing standards, but they were
not.As a result, the shop was
issued an administrative order by EPA Region 9.US
EPA Region 9 letter, February 10, 2006.http://epa.gov/region09/water/pretreatment/files/reid_metal_finishing_2006-02-10_order.pdf

Secondary containment addition/new
metal finishing process.This
facility installed a secondary containment system approximately 20 years
ago (i.e., after August 31, 1982), but since that work did not involve the
removal of tanks, it did not affect the applicability of 413
standards.During a Federal EPA
inspection in 2006, it was determined that this facility continues to
qualify as a job shop.If it had
involved the physical relocation and re-installation of entire lines, then
that would qualify as construction that "legitimately provides it
with the opportunity to install the best and most efficient production
process and wastewater treatment this facility installed a dye penetrant
line. Dye penetrant testing is unregulated under the job-shop
electroplating rule in 40 CFR 413, but regulated under the metal finishing
rule in 40 CFR 433 as an associated operation if other operations already
qualify. Since no part of the facility qualifies under the metal finishing
rule as a new source, the dye penetrant line also does not qualify even
though it was installed after August 31, 1982. Therefore, the dye
penetrant line is unregulated under the Federal categorical standards.Source: US
EPA Region 9, September 5, 2006 CWA Inspection.

Arson fire caused moving plating lines into new building.At this job shop, an arson fire
occurred in 1993, damaging one wall and a portion of the roof. The process
equipment within the facility was undamaged by the fire. Because the site
could not be adequately secured with perimeter fencing while the damage to
the wall and roof was repaired, process equipment was removed and stored
off-site until the repairs were complete and the building was secure. At
that time, (with the concurrence of the sewer district) the same equipment
which had been removed was reinstalled at the identical locations from
which it had been removed. In this case, EPA ruled that the facility
constructed new plating lines (under 40 CFR 403.3(k)(1)(ii)) using old
components that had been the plating lines before the fire. The design and
installation of the plating lines following the fire provided the facility
with an opportunity to also design and install enhanced production
equipment that would minimize the generation of pollutants.The movement of existing equipment in
this example creates a new source because the construction and reassembly of the existing production
equipment into the new or existing building provides an opportunity to
design and install the best and most efficient production processes and
wastewater treatment technologies. Source: US
EPA Region 9 letter, October 18, 2000.